Herschelle Gibbs Slams AB De Villiers For Rigid Approach

Aug 11, 2017 at 5:41 PM

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Herschelle Gibbs Slams AB De Villiers For Rigid Approach

Former South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs has launched a scathing attack on his country’s batting star AB de Villiers, in a bid to stay away from the Test cricket after the Proteas lost the four-match Investec Test series 3-1 against England.

After returning home, the Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis on Thursday (August 10) revealed the right-handed batsman de Villiers, who averages 50-plus in Tests, has a right to say and whatever he wants to do, as Gibbs has totally disagreed with his statement by effective rejoinder.

“AB [de Villiers] has earned the right to do whatever he wants to,” Du Plessis was quoted as saying by Sport24.

While taking to the micro-blogging site Twitter Gibbs stated he has never thought of seeing a captain backing the player to further put the senior campaigner on a ‘pedestal’.

“Interesting article this..captain putting a player on a pedestal! Never thought I’d see this..anyway,” Gibbs posted a photograph of a story read as: ‘Faf: AB can do whatever he wants’ written by Lloyd Burnard.

At the other hand, taking a jibe at de Villiers, Gibbs has praised the services of former teammate and all-rounder Jacques Kallis while stating the latter has achieved more with the bat and a ball as well.

“Kallis achieved more than ab [AB de Villiers] ever will but he kept on playing and never disrespected the team and the game. remember that,” Gibbs wrote on his Twitter handle.

The 43-year-old Cape Town-born Gibbs reiterated de Villiers decision has somewhat created a ruckus in the Proteas formation while opting for pick and choose in the longer format of the game.

“Has nothing to with administrators..that’s the national captain speaking! Did smith ever say Kallis could do that? And he achieved more,” Gibbs added.

Interestingly, since 1998 it was South Africa’s first Test loss in the United Kingdom, as the visitors were dismal with the bat which further missed the services of a quality batsman de Villiers, who last played a Test at Centurion against England in January 2016.

Gibbs and de Villiers in their happier times as teammates. Photo Credit: AP.

(Read Also – England’s All Rounders Made The Difference: Faf Du Plessis)

It’s pertinent to mention, the Pretoria-born de Villiers in order to keep his body fit for the limited-overs cricket, has taken a time off from the five-day cricket.

“Kallis achieved more than ab [AB de Villiers] ever will, played longer than him to(o)..he made his decision to retire on his own not keep anybody hanging,” Gibbs said in a series of tweets.

In the five-day format, Gibbs has been a cornerstone for South Africa, as he scored 6,167 runs in 154 innings of 90 Test in his international career at an average of 41.95. He has smashed 14 hundreds and 26 fifties.

Echoing the words, the former left-handed batsman Ashwell Prince has also come in support of Gibbs while terming the statement of du Plessis as ‘ridiculous’.

“Ridiculous statement @hershybru (Herschelle Gibbs) just wondering at which point then @amlahash (Hashim Amla) will be allowed to do what he wants. Soon it’s free for all,” Prince posted on his twitter handle.

Moreover, the 40-year-old Port Elizabeth-born Prince went on to say would top-order batsman Hashim Amla be allowed to enjoy the same freedom as de Villiers.

“He, [Graeme] Smith did recently say AB could do whatever he wants to. There must be a tipping point where players become bigger than the Nation,” Prince added.

However, he further feels at some stage the players are set to become superior to ‘the Nation’ owing to the scenario taking place in the cricket in South Africa.

Here’s the timeline of the Twitter remarks from former Cricketers of South Africa over Faf du Plessis’ comment on AB de Villiers following the latter’s absence from longer version:

https://twitter.com/hershybru/status/895883168443539457

https://twitter.com/hershybru/status/895886234182201344

https://twitter.com/hershybru/status/895891890301792256

https://twitter.com/hershybru/status/895888661086076928

 

 

 

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